1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and a terminal thereof, and more particularly to a land grid array electrical connector and a terminal thereof for electrically connecting a chip module to a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Terminals are extensively employed on modern integrated circuit boards to establish electrical connections between electrical components and circuit boards. Conventional connectors are often adapted to the main board via single point welding, which makes the terminal on the circuit board relatively vulnerable when subjected to external force. China patent 200720056219.9 provides an example of the conventional connector and is hereby incorporated by reference. The referenced patent discloses a terminal for an electrical connector. The terminal has a base, and one side of the base extends to form a flexible arm. The flexible arm includes a contact arm that extends upward and a retaining portion that extends downward. The upper end of the base has one upward extension forming a carrier strip connecting portion and one downward extension forming a connecting portion which further extends downward to form a welding portion.
The base is located in a receiving slot of an insulating housing. The contact arm of the terminal extends from the receiving slot and exposes to the outside of the insulating housing. One side of the welding portion of the terminal has a hook for being wedged in a convex portion of the receiving slot to prevent the terminal from moving upward. The retaining portion of the terminal is received in a concave receiving portion of the insulating housing.
The terminal discussed above has the following characteristics. When the contact arm is pressed by an electronic component, at least one part of the fastening portion will contact the interior of the receiving concave portion. The retaining portion can absorb the external force and reduce the stress transmitted to the welding portion, thus minimize the risk of solder-crack. However, the conventional terminal still has the following drawbacks.
On a conventional terminal, such as disclosed in the referenced patent, only has a single welding point, which makes the welding portion relatively weak to external force. When external force is exerted, the soldering material on the welding portion of a conventional terminal may be easily broken, resulting in the welding portion escaping from the circuit board and causing performance deterioration of the electrical connector.